All About Solar | Green Energy News

October 1, 2006 – Vol.11 No.28

ALL ABOUT SOLAR.

This week’s news.

For most homeowners who are interested in installing a solar system it’s probably a good idea to hire a professional to design and install it. A professional installer will make sure the system performs as expected; is connected properly to a home’s electrical system; and accept all the risks and dangers that go along with the installation. Working on a roof, for instance, is something most inexperienced homeowners should not undertake.

However hiring a professional adds to the cost of the solar system making the return on the investment in clean electricity even longer. Consumers could save a lot of money by doing it themselves: Do-it-yourself, or DIY solar systems if you will.

Deep in the statements from two companies are words that should excite solar DIYers. Buried in its strategic plan ICP Solar says it will start concerted efforts to gain retail market share in North America. Retail means direct to consumer. ICP already sells solar products through well known US retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Costco. The company is also licensed to use the trusted Coleman (tm) brand name on future products.

ICP makes solar products such as solar battery chargers and building integrated solar devices, but now says it wants to apply its technologies to rooftop and power generation segments of the industry. Even now, the large solar chargers ICP makes now could be scaled up to power a home.

Ascent Solar also offers words that should please solar DIYers. The company will be employing new plug-and-play module designs that should eliminate the vast amount of wires, cables, connectors, junction boxes and conduit required in current systems. The company says systems as large as 600 kilowatts could be built in days instead of weeks. (How long would a home system take, a day?)

Certainly any crafty DIYer could order all the parts to build a home solar system. But if manufacturers could design systems specifically for the solar DIYer, then more people might get interested in building their own solar powerplants. Visit ICP Solar at http://www.icpsolar.com/ Ascent Solar at http://www.ascentsolar.com/